Black Teen’s Death Still Raises Questions After Being Ruled A Suicide
It’s unfortunate any time a young person of color loses their life, and it becomes particularly hard to accept when the reason is due to suicide. However, a few questions are still lingering in the recent suicide ruling surrounding the death of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller.
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Massachusetts’ WWLP confirmed the Hopkinton teen’s death as being ruled a suicide, even though the Middlesex District Attorney’s office says the case is still under investigation. Miller’s body was found last month on April 18 in a wooded area located roughly a mile from her home. As irony would have it, Mikayla had a health app installed on her phone that was able to trace her path — it tracked about 1,300 footsteps — and confirm the distance she walked from her home to the forest was equal to the data recorded on the app.
Miller’s mother, Calvina Strothers, is one of the few who raised questions after stating police were quick to call it a suicide without completing a thorough investigation. She believes that a fight her daughter had the night before with a group of five white teens may be directly linked to her death. Based off Strothers’ recollection of events, Mikayla was attacked by five white teens the night before her death in an altercation that was possibly influenced by her identity as a member of the LGBT community in addition to being African African. Investigators however were able to rule out all five teens for wrongdoing after each of them were able to prove being elsewhere based off cell phone data and witness accounts.
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The district attorney is quoted as promising to provide “every shred of legally releasable information,” further adding in a public statement, “We will continue to be in contact with Mikayla’s family’s representatives moving forward and we are asking for continued patience as we perform this critically important work.”
May our young sister Mikayla Miller get the justice she deserves if any foul play was involved, and if not we just hope her soul is finally at peace.
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